THE FORCING GARDEN 



701 



sometimes had crowns that measured at their bottoms more 

 than nine inches in circumference ; and in such a case, they 

 were ahiiost equal to any suckers." 



FORCING PEACHES. 



The temperature should be continued as regular as possible 

 at 55° of fire-heat, allowing an advance during the middle of 

 each day by the sun-heat of 5° or 10°, but not exceeding that 

 point. Air should now be more freely admitted, upon all oc- 

 casions, by opening the sashes or ventilators, to prevent the 

 young shoots being drawn up weak, and consequently unfit 

 for forming buds for succeeding crops. This should be more 

 attended to in the peach-house than in any other of the forcing 

 departments, as the peach, from its habits, is impatient of close 

 confinement ; and the shoots, if drawn up weak, will become 

 a prey both to insects and diseases more readily than vines or 

 pines, which, being much more hardy in their nature, will not 

 suffer so much nor so soon from those causes. The fruit 

 should be thinned wdien of sufficient size to show the forma- 

 tion of the stone when cut through the middle, and before the 

 stones have attained a grisly hardness. This thinning, how- 

 ever, should be cautiously pursued at this time, and the final 

 thinning left until the stones be fairly formed. 



When the trees assume a sickly or weak appearance, the 

 quantity of fruit taken off should be greater, as by removing 

 the superfluous fruit at an early period, the trees will conse- 

 quently be less exhausted, and that portion of their strength, 

 which they would naturally give to their fruit, be directed into 

 their wood, and consequently the strength of the tree would 

 be increased. This thinning of fruit of trees in a sickly or 

 weak state is pointed out to us by nature, particularly in the 

 case of the peach-tree. It is the first effort made by nature 

 to recover itself, if reduced to a low weak state by immoderate 

 bearing or in the case of bad management, by shedding more 

 or less of its fruit, and sometimes the whole ; and it is also 

 observed in almost every other fruit-bearing tree, by shedding 

 the superfluous fruit, which it finds it is unable to bring 

 to perfection. Of this v,c are often apt to complain, ^ar- 



